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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26166088">The Arms Of The Ocean</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theyna_Shipper/pseuds/Theyna_Shipper'>Theyna_Shipper</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Star Wars One-Shots [30]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A little angst, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ben Solo Lives, Ben Solo is Husband Material, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fortunately she is receiving one for approximately 60 percent of this fic, Happy Ending, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Redeemed Ben Solo, Rey Needs A Hug, Sort Of, Twitter: reylo_prompts, based on a tweet, canonverse, reylo prompts, snuggles, soft</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 04:14:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,789</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26166088</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theyna_Shipper/pseuds/Theyna_Shipper</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>@reylo_prompts: When fighting Kylo, Rey slips and falls into the water- problem is, she never learned to swim/Ben saves her without Leia having to die and returns her to the Resistance.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Star Wars One-Shots [30]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1637683</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>174</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Arms Of The Ocean</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>GUESS WHAT BITCH SAID SHE WOULDN'T WRITE ANY MORE ONE SHOTS UNTIL SHE FINISHED HER WIP? GUESS WHAT BITCH STARTED SCROLLING THROUGH REYLO PROMPTS AND IMMEDIATELY WENT BACK ON THAT? THIS BITCH!!!!!</p>
<p>Anyway, if you're waiting for me to update my WIP... sorry. </p>
<p>Title taken from F+TM "Never Let Me Go"</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <i>"And the arms of the ocean are carrying me,<br/>
And all this devotion was rushing out of me.<br/>
And the crashes are heaven for a sinner like me.<br/>
But the arms of the ocean delivered me."</i>
</p><hr/>
<p>Rey isn’t angry. She isn’t hateful. She’s not even upset, really. </p>
<p>She’s just <i>frustrated.</i> Frustrated that he won’t give her the Wayfinder, but more than that, frustrated with life. </p>
<p>Frustrated, that Ben keeps letting her down. Frustrated, that just when she thinks she’s started to figure her life out, everything gets turned upside down again. Frustrated, that the screaming and fighting and anything never <i>stops.</i></p>
<p>So it’s with this frustration that she fights, fights with wild abandon, not even trying to hurt or kill him, just trying to make it all <i>stop.</i></p>
<p>She’s not even watching where she puts her foot until a wrong step tosses her into the surf below.</p><hr/>
<p>Ben would describe the way Rey descends upon him as <i>extremely</i> intimidating, at the least. It’s all he can do to block her wild saber strikes, angry swings that are just as likely to injure her as much as Ben. </p>
<p>Saltwater mixes with angry tears in her eyes, making her look like some kind of wild angel of vengeance, beautiful and awe-inspiring, yet terrifying.  </p>
<p>As he dwells on these distracting thoughts, Rey nearly gets a strike one him, though a quick spin of his saber blocks the blow. Rey stumbles, unsteady on her feet from the force of his return. She gasps as her foot hits a rough edge on the wreckage, and sends her sprawling into the surf below.</p><hr/>
<p><i>Cold.</i> </p>
<p>Why is everything so damn <i>cold?</i> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The shock holds Rey in place for several moments, while the icy cold water freezes every muscle in her body. When she finally comes to her senses, she realizes she’s drowning</p>
<p>She starts desperately kicking towards the surface, trying to call on non-existent muscle memory to drag her towards oxygen. </p>
<p>Rey surfaces, and fills her lungs again, but only for a moment before the current forces her back under and away from the wreckage. She tries kicking, flailing her way towards the surface or land, but her muscles don’t know how to move in water, and her body is slowly being overtaken by tremors from the cold.</p><hr/>
<p>“NO!” Ben shouts as he watches Rey’s body disappear into the surf. Stars, no. He’d never meant for this- never meant to hurt her. </p>
<p>He sighs with relief as her head reemerges for a moment, and she takes a great gulp of air, but she’s pushed under again. </p>
<p><i>She can’t swim,</i> he realizes. There wasn’t water deep enough for a flea to drown in on Jakku, when would she have learned. </p>
<p>“REY!” he kneels at the edge of the water. <i>Please, please come up again.</i> But she never does for longer than a second. </p>
<p>She’s going to drown. He’ll have killed her. </p>
<p>“Rey, please!” She can’t hear him. She’s getting farther away.</p><hr/>
<p>Fractured shouts come to her from above. Ben, shouting her name, again and again. If he says anything else, she can’t hear. Her ears hurt from being flooded with cold water. </p>
<p>He didn’t do this on purpose, she realizes. And the thought soothes her. That they won’t be enemies. </p>
<p>A black-clad hand slips under the water, offering her help. She doesn't think, she takes it and prays, but her hand slips on the wet leather, and she drifts deeper underwater. </p>
<p>And now, she realizes, she’s going to die. Finn is on the shore, and even if he comes, it will be too late. Ben can’t help her. She can’t swim, can’t breathe. She is going to drown- an ironic fate for a desert rat. </p>
<p>Rey’s too weak to resist the current. Her lungs are full of icy water. She’d fight- for Finn, for the Resistance, for Ben waiting on the shore- but she can’t. As her vision fades to black, all she has is regret. Regret that she couldn’t bring him back to her.</p><hr/>
<p>Her signature in the Force grows weaker and weaker. Ben thrusts his hand underwater, before she can drift beyond reach. </p>
<p><i>Please.</i> </p>
<p>While he prays, prays that she isn’t lost, he feels a soft pressure against his palm. <i>Rey.</i></p>
<p>But the leather of his glove is too slippery, and she can’t grip it for long before she drifts away again. </p>
<p><i>”Rey!”</i> They’re fighting a losing battle. She’s sinking. Drowning. Dying. And Force, he will <i>not</i> let that happen. He’s just found her, his dyad, his soulmate. And he <i>needs</i> her.</p><hr/>
<p>Rey blacks out and her muscles stop aching. She’s still cold. Is this what death is? Just cold?</p>
<p>In the distance, she sees a pinprick of light, pulling her towards it. It feels warm. Safe. Like home. </p>
<p>The light slowly grows clearer. It’s a long, narrow, blue strip. A lightsaber, she realizes. <i>Her</i> lightsaber. But it’s not her hand that wraps tightly around the hilt. No, it’s Ben Solo. She can see it in his eyes: there is no trace of Kylo Ren left. </p>
<p>Ben gazes at the saber with reverence, like he sees another human, another soul inside it. </p>
<p>Maybe it’s a vision, of the future. Or maybe it’s some kind of symbol. But before she can consider it further, the light fills her entire version, blinding white. </p>
<p>Her eyes snap open.</p><hr/>
<p><i>”Please,”</i> Ben begs into the cold, unforgiving water, reaching in his now-bare hand. He’s long since lost sight of Rey. Her Force is barely there, not even enough to call out to.</p>
<p>It’s possible to move a person in the Force. This is a favorite battle tactic, shoving opponents away from you in blows of Force. But it’s hard to bring them <i>towards</i> you against their will- when they are scared, their instincts want to run. But forcing someone to come to you- that’s much more difficult. </p>
<p>But stars, he can for her. He can drag that tiny, pulsing, dot of sunlight towards him, pull her out of the water. </p>
<p>Because it doesn’t matter if she was flying at him in rage moments ago. If she rejects him again and again and again. If she’ll never want him.</p>
<p>Because he needs her. </p>
<p>And he loves her. </p>
<p>He <i>loves</i> Rey. </p>
<p>And it’s with this thought that her hand clasps firmly in his.</p><hr/>
<p>
  <i>Ben.</i>
</p>
<p>That’s what Rey sees when she opens her eyes. Ben’s tear-streaked face reaching through the water to take her hand. His is ashy white with the cold, but strong and desperate, reaching for her. </p>
<p>For a moment, just a moment, she feels strong and whole.</p>
<p>She takes his hand. </p>
<p>Her lungs immediately begin to discharge the cold water, coughing and choking while Ben pulls her into his lap. </p>
<p>She wraps her arms tightly around his neck to stabilize herself while she continues to cough up icy, salty water. Her entire body shakes with cold, burrowing against his for the warmth. </p>
<p>
  <i>Ben.</i>
</p><hr/>
<p>Ben drags Rey out of the water and into his lap. Stars, she’s so cold. Her skin is pale as death, her lips blue. </p>
<p>“Hey,” he whispers. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”</p>
<p>She’s shaking with some combination of cold, shock, and fear. </p>
<p>“I’ve got you,” he repeats, gently hitting her back to help her cough out the remaining water. “You’re safe.”</p>
<p>When she’s finally cleared her lungs, she curls herself into a tight ball and burrows deep into his chest, pulling herself to the closest source of warmth. </p>
<p>Ben rubs circles against her back, trying to warm her up, but she’s so thoroughly soaked, and the air is so cold, it’s not getting much better. </p>
<p>“Ben,” she whispers softly into his shirt, and wouldn’t it feel wonderful to hear his name from her lips again, if she weren’t moments away from getting pneumonia.</p><hr/>
<p>He’s so <i>warm</i>. His clothes are as soaked as Rey’s, but that’s a small detail when she’s curling as much as she can against his body heat. She wishes she remembered the last time Ben held her like this- was it this warm, this blissful, this caring? Now Rey knows what the light was- warm, safe, home, <i>Ben.</i></p>
<p>“Ben,” she murmurs contentedly through chattering teeth. His hand slips underneath her tunic, and starts rubbing heat against her bare skin, making her warm in more ways than one. </p>
<p>“We need to get you somewhere warm,” he whispers.</p>
<p><i>I am warm,</i> she thinks, nuzzling Ben’s shirt. But..</p>
<p>“R-resistance,” she chatters. “Need t-to warn- Exegol-”</p>
<p>Ben’s hand stops.</p><hr/>
<p><i>The Resistance.</i> Of course Rey will want to go back. </p>
<p>She’s in no state to make it back herself. Frozen, half-drowned, shaking worse than a frightened rodent. If the water was dirty enough, she could have a lung infection. </p>
<p>Ben can’t believe it’s taken her nearly dying for him to realize this, but he has to stay with her. Follow her, be with her, wherever she goes. Because they- their soul, their bond, their everything- are bigger than all this. They can build a new, better galaxy anywhere- so long as he’s with her. </p>
<p>“Yes,” he says, “Yes, let’s get you home.</p><hr/>
<p>They find themselves on the Falcon after half an hour of arguing and only three death threats. Finn and Poe are difficult to convince. </p>
<p>Rey curls up on one of the bunks as Ben wraps a blanket around her shoulders.</p>
<p>“D- déja-vu?” Rey chuckles as Ben kneels on the floor. </p>
<p>“Hm?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ach-To. The night when we-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“When we touched hands.”</p>
<p>Rey nods. “I was soaked and shivering, and so scared. You gave me that b- blanket and made me tell you what was wrong.” She sighs wistfully. “I felt so <i>understood.</i>”</p>
<p> “So did I,” he recalls. </p>
<p>Silence fills the room for several long moments. </p>
<p>“Ben?”</p>
<p>“Yes?”</p>
<p>“I’m still cold.”</p>
<p>Ben climbs back onto her bunk and pulls her into his lap. “Is that better?” He asks as his arms wrap tightly around her. </p>
<p>“Mm-hm.” She flexes her frozen fingers. “My hands are cold.”</p>
<p>Ben uses his own, much larger hands, to hold hers and keep them warm. “Is that better?”</p>
<p>“Yeah.” She tips her head back towards his. “My lips are cold.” </p>
<p>Rey watches a shade of red spread over Ben’s cheeks as his eyes glance down towards these lips. </p>
<p>His hands are full, keeping hers warm. So he presses his lips against hers, like he’s longed to do for so long, indulging in the way their lips fit together perfectly, in the way she leans into him hungrily. </p>
<p>“Is that better?” he whispers as he pulls away. </p>
<p>“Perfect.”</p><hr/>
<p>
  <i>"And the arms of the ocean, so sweet and so cold,<br/>
And all this devotion, well, I never knew at all.<br/>
And the crashes are heaven for a sinner released,<br/>
And the arms of the ocean delivered me."</i>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading! Please drop kudos and a comment, and check out the rest of my profile for more Reylo. I WILL go back to updating my WIP now.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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